Chapter Two: Welcome, Foolish Mortals
Once everyone was inside the mansion, Randy quickly closed the door to the building. The wind from the thunderstorm nearly knocked the secret hero off his feet as he pushed the door shut. In the brief time they were outside, the teens were completely soaked from the surprise storm that came down on them. They didn't like the idea of even stepping foot in this building, but it was either this or walk for who knows how long back to Norrisville in this downpour. Once everyone was situated, they took a moment to take in their new surroundings.
The main hall of the mansion was huge with a large staircase that led to the upper levels of the building. The room was illuminated by a candle-lit chandelier as well as several candles that sat on wall posts, proving that someone was living here. However, the condition of the mansion left much to be desired. Cobwebs adorned the chairs and desks in the room and some of the corners and the teens could hear the faint sound of rats scurrying through the walls. Painted portraits of men of women dressed in Victorian era clothing were hung all around, but the biggest was of one that hung over the fireplace. It was of a man who dressed in dark clothing and had proud expression on his face. More then likely this was the either the current owner of the mansion or at least at one point was its owner in the past.
"Yeesh, what a bunch of shoobs" Howard muttered as he looked at the portraits
"Oh it's even more magnificently macabre on the inside!" Julian squealed in delight as he danced in circles in the room "the candles, the cobwebs—Oh I could stay here forever!"
"Not me, there's to much creepy and not enough cute here" Rachel mentioned as she shuddered at her surroundings
"Look let's just see if anyone's home. The sooner we get out of here the better" Randy informed everyone before calling out "hello? Is anyone here? We're sorry for just barging in here like this, but there was this thunderstorm that just showed up and we're far from our homes. Do you have a phone we can use?"
The young hero's calls were met with only silence. Leaving Howard a bit skeptical to his friends plan seemingly ruined plan.
"Smooth Cunningham, real smooth" he sarcastically congratulated "now we're stuck in some creepy old mansion that could fall in on us at any wonk'in second!"
"Maybe they just didn't hear us, it's a big mansion after all, or they could out for the night" Randy suggested "Why would candles be lit if no one lived here?"
"Maybe this whole place is full of ghosts" Bucky commented hesitantly
"Oh please, there's no such thing as ghosts, Bucky" Debbie said in annoyance
"Weren't you turned into zombie two Halloween's ago?" Doug pointed out "so why can't ghosts be real as well?"
"Because zombies and ghosts are two different things, Doug!" the young reporter snapped
"Can we save the debate for weather or not this place is haunted and just focus of getting help?" Heidi suggested
"You can all leave if you wish, but I'm staying right here" Julian informed the rest of the teens
"You can't just stay here Julian, what if someone does live here?" Flute Girl replied
"Don't step on my dreams, woman!" the goth shot back
While everyone else was trying to figure out what do next or some cases just arguing among themselves, Theresa remained silent as she only stared at the large portrait of the man that hung over the fireplace. She had no idea who this man was and yet she couldn't help feel some sort connection to him. It was as if a long forgotten memory in the back of her mind was trying to force itself into the forefront of her thoughts the longer she looked at the painting. Suddenly she felt a something touch her shoulder, making her let out a yelp in fright as she spun around to see what had grabbed her. Much to her relief it was just Randy, who had a look of concern on his face.
"Are you ok?" he asked
"Yeah, I guess I just kinda zoned out" she answered with a calming sigh before mentioning "this place is pretty creepy, huh?"
"Don't worry, we'll be outta here soon, I promise" Randy assured her before rubbing his arms "hey is it just me or is it getting colder in here?"
The teens were cold before from getting rained on, but that was quickly rectified once they found shelter. But this new cold gripped the teens in its icy hold and refused to let go. The room grew so cold that Randy and his friends began to see their own breath. Suddenly, a gust of freezing wind blew past them, blowing out the candles in the main hall as it did. Several of the teens let out screams of fright at the surprise darkness that had suddenly enveloped them. Randy remained calm on the outside, but on the inside he was on edge.
While he didn't want to jump to the conclusion that phantoms inhabited the mansion like Bucky did, but in his past experiences had taught him to expect the unexpected. In his time of the Ninja had encountered strange assortments of enemies that he once thought were impossible to exist in this world. Just then, he felt something tap his arm, making him jump in surprise. With the little moonlight that shined through the windows, the hero of Norrisville realized that it was Howard who was trying to get his attention. His friend then pulled him aside from everyone else in order to speak with him in private.
"I don't take wanna say I agree with Bucky, but on the off chance things get nasty, you better have your mask ready for anything" the heavyset teen suggested in almost a whisper
"Uh, yeah…see the thing is…" Randy sheepishly began out of embarrassment "I um…I left it at home"
"You What?!" Howard nearly shouted in anger before whispering again "Seriously Cunningham, you bring that wonk'in mask everywhere you go, how could you just forget it?!"
"I didn't think I needed it tonight!" the young hero defended
"Well great Cunningham, just great, now we're trapped in a honk'in haunted mansion without the Ninja to save us!" the portly boy scolded "when we die by some ghost-related death I want you to know this is all you're fault!"
"Oh knock it off, Howard!" Randy ordered "there are no ghosts in here!"
"Uh, guys?" Theresa called out to the others as she pointed to the portrait over the fireplace "Look"
The teens looked upon the portrait as dim green light began to emit from the picture before them. Some members of the group gasped in horror while others could on look on in wide-eyed shock. Suddenly, the man in the painting slowly began to rot and decay before the group of friends very eyes, as if the man in the image was growing older by the second. Julian like out a high-pitched shriek of terror before jumping into Rachel's arms, shaking like a freighted kitten as he did. Howard attempted to do the same with Debbie Kang, but she instantly dropped him the moment he leapt into her arms. Theresa reached out a clutched Randy's hand and squeezed it tightly. If Randy wasn't totally in a state of shock right now, he would've blushed.
The portrait soon changed from that of a handsome young man, to one of rotting corpse. Despite this horrifying change, Theresa was still slightly enamored by the painting. No matter how horrendous the image became, she couldn't look away from the man. Just then, the candles began to light up once more, putting the group of now frightened kids even more on edge then before.
"That's it! I'm getting the wonk outta here!" Howard exclaimed in terror
"I'd rather take the storm over this!" his sister agreed
The group quickly raced to the doors and swung them open, only to reveal a shocking scene before them. Instead of seeing the rain covered front yard of the mansion, they instead found themselves looking at the main hall yet again. They collectively looked back to see same room they were currently standing before at the same time. Everyone was beyond terrified at this point, there was no way this could get more horrifying then it already was now.
How wrong they were.
"Going somewhere?" a voice slyly inquired
The teens were now in a full on state of panic. The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere yet nowhere at the same time, leaving everyone in an even further state of distress than before. They were trapped inside a mansion that was most differently haunted, and unfortunately they weren't going to be rescued by the Ninja anytime soon. However, rather then let fear take control of him, Randy steadied himself as he faced the unknown man who had trapped him and his friends.
"Who are you!" he demanded
"I am your host" the voice replied "your ghost host"
"What do you want with us?" Theresa asked, her voice laced heavily with fear
"Why, to take you on a tour of course" the host answered simply
"I highly doubt you'd just kidnap us just so we can tour your house" Debbie chided
"We have so little guests come to our humble abode" the voice explained "It's always good to see such young spirits enter our home"
"Let us go!" Randy commanded
"I assure you will all be free to go once our tour is complete" the ghost host informed him "But until then, you're our guests"
Randy and the others were frightened and helpless to do anything about it. They were trapped in the mansion until their ghoulish tour guide decided to let them leave—if he kept his word, that is. Suddenly, one of the walls in the main hall slide open on its own to reveal another room.
"So, shall we begin?" the voice inquired
What could they do? Randy didn't have the Ninja mask and their host wasn't going to let them leave anytime soon. Howard and the other teens looked to the secret hero of Norrisville for answers as to what to do next. Should they try to fight back? Should they try to run again? All of these ideas seemed futile in the end. Only one option remained seemed open to them—and no one was happy about it.
"Let's just do as…that thing says, for now at least" he said to the others
"Are you crazy Cunningham?" Howard shouted "that room probably leads to some horrible torture chamber!"
"You got a better idea?" the Ninja asked sharply
"No, but if I did it would be a lot honk'in better then yours idea!" the redhead snapped back
"Ahem" the host's voice interrupted "if you're quite finished, I have a tour to give"
The two friends ended their argument before Randy begrudgingly led the other teens into the other room. The room was much smaller then the main hall and was shaped like an octagon. It was dimly lit by several candles that were being held by small gargoyle chapters. The walls were striped and had four large portraits of people that were hung upon them. The air was much colder then it was in the main hall, making some of the teens huddle together for warmth. Among those was Theresa, who clung to Randy tightly as she took in the heat from his body. Randy put an arm around her to give her some extra warmth. Rachel held onto Julian, who would normally try to break away from any physical contact, but he was to cold and scared to argue at the moment.
"Our tour begins here in this gallery" the host began as if he was giving a tour of a museum "here you will see some of our guests as they appeared in their corruptible mortal state"
"It's not really a gallery if it's just four paintings" Doug commented
"Interrupt my story again, Doug—see what happens!" the Ghost Host's voice roared in a demonic voice
The know it all nerd let out a yelp in fright as he ducked behind Bucky and Flute Girl. Normally, Randy would try to defend his friend from a dark entity that threatened his friends, but it was Doug, so no harm done there. Just then, the teens noticed that something strange was happing to the painting above them. The portraits began to stretch out, reveling more to former guests of the mansion and how they met their grizzly demise.
"Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding" he noted with delight in his voice "almost as if you sense a disquieting metamorphosis"
"Uh, what?" Howard asked blankly, not understanding a single word that was spoken
"He said that we're scared and the rooms changing" Debbie explained in annoyed voice
"Well why didn't he just say that?" the portly boy demanded "Seriously, if I wanted to learn big words, I'd have paid attention in English class!"
"And consider this dismaying observation" the host furthered "this room has no windows and no doors"
Randy and the others turned around to where the open wall was and saw that it had sealed shut while they were distracted by the stretching paintings.
"Which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out!" he continued with a wicked cackle
The teenagers began to run over to the walls and try to kick try to break them down with their bare hands. But with every punch or kick to the walls around them, all the ended up doing was hurting their hands.
"How the juice do we get out of here?!" Heidi cried out in a panic
"Well, there's always my way" the invisible tour guide suggested
With that, the candles went out as the sound of thunder shook the small room. The ceiling lit up by streaks of lightning, making it harder to see. While everyone was busy struggling to rip out the walls, Theresa caught the sight of something that was hanging from the ceiling. At first she couldn't quite make it out what exactly it was because of the lack of light, but another flash of lightning allowed her to catch a glimpse of what was hanging over them and instantly wished she hadn't seen it. It was rotting corpse that strung up by a noose around its neck. Theresa let out a scream that caught everyone's attention. They too looked up to see what had scared her, causing some of her friends to scream as well.
The rope to the noose began to break apart, causing the lifeless body to fall down toward them. Theresa buried her head into Randy's chest while the others tried to cover their faces with their hands in a futile attempt to shield themselves from the falling corpse. The room began pitch black as the sound of bones crashing to the ground echoed throughout the room. The candles flickered back to life to reveal that the group of friends had vanished from the small gallery completely.